CSBG Archive

Comic Book Easter Eggs – Invincible Easter Eggs!

Every week, I will be sharing with you three comic book “easter eggs.” An easter egg is a joke/visual gag/in-joke that a comic book creator (typically the artist) has hidden in the pages of the comic for readers to find (just like an easter egg). They range from the not-so-obscure to the really obscure. So come check ‘em all out and enjoy! Also, click here for an archive of all the easter eggs featured so far! If you want to suggest an easter egg for a future column, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com (do not post your suggestion in the comments section!).

This week, all the easter eggs come courtesy of Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley’s Invincible!

Enjoy!

Now do note that I understand that Invincible has other easter eggs besides the three I am about to show you. I did not “miss” them, they’re just not featured in this particular column. However, if you’d like to let me know about some of the other Invincible easter eggs, please let me know by e-mailing me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Thanks! On to the bit!

First up, courtesy of a suggestion by Paul L., we see Invincible #6 (by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, in one of Walker’s last issues on the title as the regular artist), when Mark “Invincible” Grayson goes to visit a local college. There, he and his friend William (Just William, not Bill. He WILL correct you) meet a student from the college, Rick Sheridan…

Rick’s name and his sleeping habits are, of course, a reference to Rick Sheridan, the lead character of Marvel’s 1991 series Sleepwalker….

We never meet him but Rick has a roommate named Powell (this is from Invincible #22, by Kirkman and Ryan Ottley)…

This is LIKELY a reference to Chris “Darkhawk” Powell from another Marvel 1991 series, Darkhawk…

I honestly don’t know, do we ever get to see Powell’s name confirmed as Chris in the pages of Invincible? If it was confirmed as Chris, that’d make the easter egg definitive. As it is, I think it is still likely.

Next up, in a scene from Kirkman and Ottley’s (plus inks by Cliff Rathburn) Invincible #58 (as suggested by Andrew M), we see Doctor Venture and Brock Samson eating out…

Doctor Venture and Brock Samson are, of course, major characters from the popular animated series The Venture Brothers…

Finally, based on a suggestion from Steven D., we have Kirkman, Ottley and Rathburn’s Invincible #81, which features none other than Kirkman’s famed pair of cops, Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh, from the Walking Dead!

Here they are in Walking Dead #1…

Good stuff.

Okay, folks, thanks for the suggestions! If YOU have a suggestion for a future column, e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com. DON’T post in the comments!

chad

Pack

It’s probably worth noting that Kirkman wrote an arc in the most recent revival of Marvel Team-Up that featured both Sleepwalker and Darkhawk. In a strange twist (for how it ties in with *this* column,) that arc followed the crossover teaming Invincible with Spider-Man.
I also seem to remember that Kirkman had written a Sleepwalker revival for some kind of anthology title which never ended up seeing print.

A friend of mine bought original art from Ottley because it featured a little easter egg no one would ever see. There’s this one scene where Mark and his mom are walking around the campus, and in the right of the panel two students are walking passed, with one kid’s head cut off by the panel borders. His face however has like, his tongue lolling and him looking goofy.

On his original art, Ottley continued the picture to go outside of that panel, and had the top of the guys head removed and his brain’s spilling out. It’s hilarious because Ottley basically drew it just to entertain himself.

The Fallen

Travis Pelkie

@Pack, Kirkman’s Sleepwalker revival did appear in the first issue of the Epic Anthology book that came out…sometime ago. Can’t remember exactly. I think only the one issue appeared. Don’t remember, but it seemed an ok story. I too loves me some Sleepwalker, and that’s a pretty funny easter egg. Especially paired with his roommate.

[…] Comic Book Easter Eggs – Invincible Easter Eggs! (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) Every week, I will be sharing with you three comic book “easter eggs.” An easter egg is a joke/visual gag/in-joke that a comic book creator (typically the artist) has hidden in the pages of the comic for readers to find (just like an easter egg). … […]

Alex

birmy

Kirkman’s abortive attempt at a Sleepwalker revival (before the MTU story) saw print in the “Epic Anthology” one-shot, basically the loose ends from the attempted Quemas revival of the Epic line. It featured a new character taking on the identity.